Defence will emerge as the largest business of Reliance Group: Anil Ambani

Defence will emerge as the largest business for the Reliance Group, said Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group in a presentation to analysts on Monday as Reliance Defence gears to tap defence opportunities worth ₹1 lakh crore annually in the Indian defence market.

“There is a huge opportunity for private sector in the defence business as currently India imports 70% of its defence requirement in value terms and accounts for 14% of the global defence imports in 2016,” said Anil Ambani addressing a gathering of 80 analysts in Mumbai on Monday. “Overall, India Offset opportunities are in excess of ₹77,000 crore with peak obligation of ₹10,000 crore in 2018. This is a big playing field for Indian private sector,” he said.

Reliance Defence has submitted bids for ₹30,000 crore of defence orders comprising landing platform dock and anti submarine warfare and shallow water craft.

Reliance Defence is planning to bid for the building of two indigenous aircraft carriers worth ₹90,000 crore and 12 submarines worth ₹1.2 lakh crore. The company is also planning to submit bids worth another ₹30,000 for building next-generation missile vessels and a next-generation corvette this year.

“Reliance Group’s entry into the defence sector is driven by the new policy of Make in India and Skill India which makes available the large opportunity for the group. Contrary to general perception, defence is [a] low-capital business with high turnover,” said Mr. Ambani adding that our vision is to be the leading manufacturer and supplier of ‘State of Art’ - advanced weapon platforms, equipments, systems and hardware to meet the domestic requirements of the Indian Armed Forces and to mark our presence across the world.

In aerospace, Reliance Defence has set up a 51: 49 JV, Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited, which will be the key player in the offset opportunity for the Rafael 36 contract.

The annual budget for Indian defence is about Rs 2.6 lakh crore, having shown consistent growth of more than 10% over the last 15 years.